Dinner Conversation

When the last person sits down, we begin with a prayer.

"Hey mom, hey mom does this gives you a heart attack?" says Owen. I am attempting to toss the salad with the remaining tablespoons of blue cheese we have in the jar, and don't answer.

I look around the table and ask, "Who's ready for a prayer?" William is sniffing the Ranch dressing and moaning while rolling his eyes to the back of his head. Emma is chomping, Lily is comparing her steak to Emma's and Owen is chattering.

"What are you doing?" Mitchell asks Will in an baffled tone. Mitchell lives in a land of munchkins. His closest sibling is 8 years younger and while he enjoys them much of the time, he is completely bewildered and exasperated by them a lot of the time.

"Mmmm it smells good." Will croons. I guess he is hungry after running around and flying kites at the park.

Richard asks Emma if she would like to give the prayer, she is chewing on a piece of steak.

"Hey where's my fork?" Will pipes in.

"It's right there by your plate." I say

"I've already had a bite," Emma confesses. In our house if you have eaten part of the meal then you can't offer the prayer, why, I do not know. Really, does Heavenly Father care if you have had a bite of the meal or not. Are we not worthy to give the prayer if we've had a little smackral of the dinner?

"Oh," Richard says, "Will, how about you, will you give the prayer?" Will shakes his head no, I guess he has had a bite too.

"Mom does this gives you a heart attack?" There is Owen again asking me about the piece of steak stuck on the end of his fork. I shake my head no as I stand and begin serving the salad as Richard asks another family member to say the prayer. . .

"Yuck I don't want yettuce! No yettuce for me it's gwross!" Owen shouts

"Yes you will get salad, you like salad." I serve him up some salad making sure there are no tomatoes, that is one fight I will not fight now. If I can get him to eat his carrots and brocoli, I am happy. When Owen sees me place the salad on the plate he sticks out his tongue and makes gagging noises. Everyone giggles.

"I yike yettuce," Will states sticking his nose in the Ranch dressing again, "especially wif wranch."

"I can't say the prayer, I already had a bite," Lily confesses

"I can't either," says Mitch, I am next in line. I've already had a bite too, but so that we can get the ball rolling and actually begin eating this meal "legally" I keep my little secret and say the prayer.

Right after the prayer:

"Mom, hey mom, does this stuff gives you a heart attack?" Owen chirps again sticking his fork with a piece of steak in my face, he is serious. How in the world did he get that in his head?

"No the steak does not give you a heart attack. If all you ate was steak every day, every meal, all the time, and you were my age, it could hurt you. . . give you a heart attack, but your little."

"That would be bad," says Emma. "You'd die."

"You wouldn't necessarily die, but it isn't good."

"It would hurt," says Emma.

"Yea but we don't eat a lot of red meat!" says Mitch,

Will still is sniffing the bottle of Ranch as I continue to serve up the salad. "Will's a sniffer," Mitchell concludes, "like you dad."

"Yep I am a smeller. I have always got to smell things." He is right, he is part hound dog. The first thing he did when our children were born was smell them. It was quite sweet really, It was like he wanted to experience them another way, sight, touch and smell. He then confesses he smells everything, even his belly button to make sure it's clean, and he checks his breath by smelling his upper lip. "Italian dressing is the worst!" he says, I shake my head staring down at my meal, and ask to change the subject.

"Mom, Mom, hey Mom, does this gives you a heart attack?" Owen asks AGAIN! everybody laughs.

"How did you get that in your head?" I say.

"I told him, we learned about it in science," Lily shares. "It clogs your arteries."

"No honey, it won't give you a heart attack. Don't worry, enjoy it."

"Yea, and eat your salad, because that keeps your body from having a heart attack!" Richard reminds Owen.

"Yea, those veggies are good for you. eat up!"

"What would you rather have, cancer or a heart attack?" Lily curiously asks.

"Neither of them!" Richard says, I nod my head in agreement. I don't want to talk about that either. I would rather talk about smelling belly buttons.

"Yes neither!" I agree.

"Is there any more steak?" Will asks,

"Eat the rest of your salad and potatoes, and then you can have more steak?

"There's no more steak." Richard warns

"There's no more steak?" Mitchell whines, he has half of his left still.

"Your piece was hUge," I say

"Yeah you got the biggest piece," Richard chimes.

"Oh yeah," Mitchell backs down with a smile. I look at my piece, Mine was Uge too. I cut off a chunk and reserve it for the "wild pack" less they attack.

"Eat your veggies and then you can have more."

"Stop that, your always putting tomatoes on my plate!" Lily squirms. She looks at me tilting her head to the side and moans,"She always puts tomatoes on my plate and the juice and seeds get on my stuff." Emma is smiling at her joke. I glance at her sternly and she picks up her tomato and pops it in her mouth then she comes over to me and sits on my lap. "It's irritating Emma, it really bothers me!" Lily shares.

"Mom, mom, hey Mom. Dos this stuff gives you a heart attack?" Owen is sitting next to me holding his fork full of steak in my face, and is looking up at me. I stare back at him smiling. I really don't know what to say.